Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in two important trilateral meetings with world leaders here in Argentina’s capital, during which they would discuss major global challenges and developments. Prime Minister Modi, who arrived here to attend the G-20 summit, will participate in the first-ever trilateral meeting between Japan, America and India and the 2nd Russia, India China (RIC) trilateral, which is taking place after an interval of 12 years, on Friday.

US President Donald Trump will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and then the two leaders will meet jointly with Prime Minister Modi.

The trilateral meeting between Trump, Abe and Modi is taking place in the backdrop of China engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and with Japan in the East China Sea. Both the areas are said to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the waterway, which includes vital sea lanes through which about USD 3 trillion in global trade passes each year.

The US has been conducting regular patrols in the South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation in the area where Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.

During the RIC meeting, Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet.

In his departure statement, Modi said that through the 10 years of its existence, the G-20 has strived to promote stable and sustainable global growth.

“This objective is of particular significance for developing countries and emerging economies such as India, which is today the fastest growing large economy in the world,” he said.

Modi said India’s contribution to global economic growth and prosperity underlined its commitment to ‘Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development’, which is the theme of the summit.

“I look forward to meeting leaders from other G-20 countries to review the work of G-20 in the last 10 years of its existence and chart the ways and means to meet the new and upcoming challenges of the coming decade,” he said.

The prime minister said the participants would deliberate on the situation of the global economy and trade, international financial and tax systems, the future of work, women empowerment, infrastructure and sustainable development.

The timing of the meetings are directly related to period of major global developments, PMO sources said.

They said it is indicative of India’s growing diplomatic and economic profile in the world.

They noted that India is now a global engine of economic growth and will be in top five economies of the world and a factor of stability in the region.

Further, it was in recognition of India assuming leadership role on global issues of people’s concerns such as climate change, renewable energy, corruption and disaster resilient infrastructure, they said.

Also, it was a reflection of India’s willingness to contribute in a positive and a constructive way in strengthening multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organistaion (WTO) and trying to build a consensus on new ideas like the Indo-Pacific region.

It also reflected the fruition of India’s efforts and leadership role in building awareness and consensus on key global challenges, the PMO sources said.